Dual Queens GL - Chapter 2

The palace, along with the serving maids and eunuchs, had long been prepared for Liu Honing by Yang Zhao. Upon entering the palace gate, Liu He directly escorted Liu Honing and her maid to the Changqing Hall for settling in, and instructed the palace staff to serve them well. At the same time, he sent someone to the front hall to report to Yang Zhao. At this moment, Yang Zhao was still discussing matters with the ministers in the front hall.

Although it was exceptionally cold outside, the charcoal fire inside the hall was sufficient, and it was not cold at all. After entering the hall, Liu Honing and her maid felt much warmer. They also drank a cup of hot wine to dispel the chill.

“Miss, are we going to stay here forever from now on?” Liu Yan asked. Her miss’s and her own families were all in Jiangdu. From now on, her miss would only have herself to rely on in the palace. Thinking of this, Liu Yan was inevitably saddened.

“Since we have come, we shall accept it.” Although Liu Honing was unwilling to enter the palace, since she had come, she could only accept it calmly. She had always had an excellent mindset and was able to adapt to circumstances, so she was not overly sad.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yan immediately put away her sadness. She had grown up with her miss and knew her temperament well—never worried or troubled, neither happy nor angry. She lived like a Bodhisattva; even if the sky were to fall, she would probably face it calmly. She thought to herself, “With the miss’s temperament, she probably will be able to settle in.” It made her seem overly sentimental and unnecessarily worried.

“The snow has stopped. Let’s go out for a walk and familiarize ourselves with the environment,” Liu Honing suggested. She thought Liu Yan’s unease and sadness were probably due to the unfamiliar environment. Perhaps getting out and getting familiar with the surroundings would help.

“That’s good too.” Liu Yan felt a little constrained and uncomfortable seeing the palace maids standing in a row and the eunuchs standing in a row, respectfully waiting to serve them.

“Where are you going, mistress?” Yu Zheng, the female official in charge of the hall, immediately followed and asked. The word had spread throughout the palace: this Miss Liu was originally engaged to the Emperor. The Emperor held deep affection for her and now planned to depose the Empress and establish her as the new Empress. Given such a person, how could they dare to neglect her?

“Liu Yan and I are just going for a casual walk. You can just follow us, no need for the others to come along,” Liu Honing said. She was afraid of getting lost in the palace, so she thought it better to take someone from the palace with her.

“Understood.” Yu Zheng then followed them out.

“What is your name?” Liu Honing asked the female official walking beside her.

“I am the Wanshi (Chamberlain) Yu Zheng,” Yu Zheng replied.

“Yu Zheng. The name has a strong spirit. You must be an upright person with a bit of temper,” Liu Honing said with a smile.

Yu Zheng was surprised. This new mistress was such an accurate judge of character. Her temperament was indeed unyielding and righteous, and she had offended quite a few people in the palace. She originally did not know why the Emperor had promoted her, a person whose reputation in the palace was not good and whose temperament was unsuitable for serving a mistress, to Wanshi and assigned her to serve this woman who might become the new Empress. She only remembered the Emperor saying that the new mistress was always lenient towards her servants, so she should serve diligently. He said nothing else. Now, looking at the woman in front of her, Yu Zheng began to understand a little. Perhaps this mistress could tolerate her and would not mind her temper.

“Yu Zheng will certainly fulfill her duty,” Yu Zheng said earnestly.

“No need to be so restrained. You’ll understand once we spend more time together,” Liu Honing said, still smiling. Her laughter gave a very comfortable feeling.

“That’s right. You’ll know in the future that my miss is the easiest person to get along with,” Liu Yan chimed in.

“What place is this?” Liu Honing asked Yu Zheng when they passed the outside of a garden and smelled a clear, cold, and refreshing fragrance. Following the scent, she indeed found a large plum grove and asked the question.

“Empress Wenxian loved plum blossoms. This is the Plum Garden Emperor Wen specially built for Empress Wenxian. It also contains plum trees personally planted by the Emperor for her,” Yu Zheng answered.

“What a devoted man,” Liu Honing said sincerely. The deep love between Emperor Wen and Empress Wenxian was well-known throughout the court. Even though Empress Wenxian had no children, her favor did not diminish in the slightest, and the rest of the harem was virtually ignored.

Liu Honing entered the Plum Garden and saw a scene: a young woman of breathtaking beauty stood under a plum tree and snapped off a plum branch. The movement shook the snow off the tree, giving Liu Honing the illusion of accidentally stumbling into a fairyland and encountering a goddess. The plum blossoms in the entire garden seemed less beautiful than she was.

“Is that person a flower fairy?” Liu Honing asked softly, seemingly afraid of startling the ‘fairy.’

But they were not far apart, and even though her tone was light, it still startled the young woman who was snapping the branch. That person seemed slightly flustered as she turned her head to look over.

Ye Guichen was in a state of distress and had unconsciously come to the Plum Garden, where her maternal aunt used to spend time. Her loving aunt was gone, and a sense of melancholy over the transience of things arose. In the past, her maternal uncle (Emperor Wen) had personally planted plum trees in this garden for her aunt to preserve his love and keep it alive in the world. Who knew that in the winter before last, that man (Yang Zhao) had also, perhaps on a whim, planted a plum tree for her, making her mistakenly believe that he, too, had feelings for her. Now, seeing this tree he planted blooming so vividly, she only felt extreme irony. Although she claimed not to contend, how could she not feel resentment in her heart? So, a thought came to her, and she subconsciously took out her anger by snapping off a segment of a plum branch from the tree. However, her angry snapping of the branch agitated the snow on the plum tree. When the falling snow landed on her, she felt her action was very inappropriate. She knew that even if she had resentment in her heart, she should not show it, nor let others see it. So, when she heard the sound, she was indeed slightly flustered and instinctively turned to look in the direction of the sound.

Upon seeing Liu Honing for the first time, Ye Guichen knew it must be her—the woman he was bringing back, the woman who was about to take her place. It wasn’t that she was so beautiful; at least Ye Guichen thought she wasn’t as beautiful as herself. But the woman before her possessed a spiritual quality, and there was a sense of freedom and unrestrainedness in her eyes that was absent in other women of the world, along with a feeling she couldn’t quite describe. She was indeed very different from other women. The woman was looking at her with a slight smile, a very soft smile that was even a little indulgent. Ye Guichen found this feeling absurd. The woman probably didn’t know who she was, or else she likely wouldn’t be smiling at her like this.

Liu Honing thought that she had initially found the woman’s profile so beautiful that people couldn’t take their eyes off it, but the turned face was even more exquisite. It turned out there was such a breathtaking beauty in the world, truly pleasing to the eye and directly uplifting one’s mood.

Before meeting Liu Honing, Ye Guichen might have been unwilling and deeply wanted to see Liu Honing to know what kind of woman she was to captivate Yang Zhao and where she herself fell short. She thought she might be jealous of her, but after this sudden encounter, Ye Guichen only felt a sense of “so, the woman he likes is like this,” and also that she “should, of course, be such a unique woman.” At this moment, she was more concerned that she had been caught snapping the branch. Perhaps the woman did not know yet, but she would find out sooner or later that this plum tree was planted by Yang Zhao for her, and she would definitely think that her snapping the branch was due to resentment. She did have resentment and unwillingness, but she did not want this resentment and unwillingness to be known by others, especially Liu Honing. It felt as if her embarrassment and shame had been witnessed by her, and she felt somewhat humiliated.

Liu Honing saw the stunning woman’s eyes shifting, her mind clearly turning over various thoughts. She must be a woman with a heavy heart, but Liu Honing was merely curious about what she was thinking upon seeing her.

Feeling somewhat humiliated, Ye Guichen quickly shifted her gaze away from Liu Honing, as if she hadn’t recognized her, and turned to exit the Plum Garden through another entrance.

“Who is she?” Liu Honing asked Yu Zheng, the female official, after Ye Guichen left.

“She is…” Yu Zheng hesitated, not knowing how to introduce the Empress who had not yet been deposed but might soon be.

“Hm?” Liu Honing knew Yu Zheng must recognize her.

“The current Empress,” Yu Zheng replied, being ultimately honest. Regardless of whether Ye Guichen would be deposed, at this moment, she was still the Empress.

“Ye Guichen? Huachao? So she really is the Flower Goddess…” Liu Honing muttered to herself very softly.

“Miss, what are you saying?” Liu Yan, who hadn’t heard what her miss was muttering, asked.

“Tell me, what could Jun Shen possibly be dissatisfied with in such a beautiful and virtuous Empress?” Liu Honing asked.

“Naturally, Miss also has qualities that make one cherish her,” Liu Yan said. Although the Empress was indeed beautiful, in Liu Yan’s heart, her own miss was always the best.

“It must be that Jun Shen is not devoted enough. No matter how many beautiful flowers are in the garden, he doesn’t mind adding another one,” Liu Honing said.

Yu Zheng thought to herself, this new mistress is truly daring to speak like this, but what she said was correct. Most men in the world are like this; if they have the means, which one doesn’t have three wives and four concubines?

“Miss, the master (your father) told you to be cautious with your words when you came to the palace and not to be as unrestrained and carefree as you were at home. After all, the palace is not like home,” Liu Yan reminded her. Before leaving, her father had repeatedly instructed her to remind her miss, but she felt that even if she did, her miss wouldn’t take it to heart.

“Jun Shen won’t mind me talking about him like this behind his back,” Liu Honing said with a smile to Liu Yan, clearly not taking her words to heart.